serial killer clean

I gave back your things
But I held on
to some evidence of us
the trinkets accumulated
manifestations of memories

the sweet gifts, photos, cards
do I put them in the trash
or in a box under the bed
Keep them around for when I want to
romanticize the past 

If I can say goodbye to
once-cherished souvenirs 
Maybe like this
Of you, my place and head will be clear

and even then
you’re not gone yet
I find your hair
in the corners, under the bed
I clean it up 
like in the process
I might tie up loose ends
and make it make sense

You still linger and haunt
I wash every space
I sweep and scrub and mop
If you were never here, then you were never gone
It’s a serial killer clean
The way I obsess over ever trace
The way I must erase your DNA

Though you didn’t
The ring marks from your cups
that touched the lips I touched
these stains, they stay
They keep the case cold
They’ll convict me one day
With a reexamination
of the evidence of us